No. 18 West Virginia Heads to Las Vegas to Compete in Cliff Keen Invitational

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 18 West Virginia University wrestling team will compete in the 2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center in Las Vegas on Dec. 5-6.

Competition will begin at noon on Dec. 5, and matches will be streamed by FloWrestling.

West Virginia (5-0) is off to its best start since 1992 after winning its first five matches. Most recently, the Mountaineers defeated Rider at Hope Coliseum, 28-10, on Nov. 23.

Redshirt junior Brody Conley (174) leads the Mountaineers at 10-0 this season. He has one win against a ranked opponent, and four of his wins have come by fall.

Redshirt junior Ian Bush (184) is also off to a dominant start with nine wins in 10 matches. He is 2-1 against ranked opponents.
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Six Mountaineers earned seeds for the invitational, with redshirt sophomore Ty Watters leading the team as the No. 1 seed at 157 pounds. Graduate student Jett Strickenberger (125) is the No. 4 seed, graduate student Willie McDougald is the No. 10 seed at 149 pounds, Conley is the No. 5 seed at 174 pounds, Bush (184) is the No. 8 seed and redshirt freshman Rune Lawrence is the No. 6 seed at 197 pounds.

Last season at the Cliff Keen Invitational, West Virginia placed 11^th for its highest finish since 2007, when the team placed 12^th. Fifth-year Peyton Hall won the title at 165 pounds to lead the Mountaineers in 2024.

This is the first time since 2016-17 that the Mountaineers are competing at back-to-back Cliff Keen Invitationals.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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Players Mentioned

Ian Bush

Brody Conley

Peyton Hall

Rune Lawrence

Willie McDougald

Jett Strickenberger

Ty Watters

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